Today's top news: Nigeria, Sudan

Almost 700,000 children under five are likely to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition this year in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. OCHA/Eve Sabbagh

Nigeria

The UN has allocated US$20 million to urgently ramp up the response to the alarming food security and nutrition crisis in the north-east of the country.

With $9 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and $11 million from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF), the UN will support the Government-led response efforts across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. Assistance includes food, ready to eat therapeutic food, access to clean water, health care and agriculture support.

According to humanitarian partners, almost 700,000 children under five are likely to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition this year in these three states. This is more than double the number of cases in 2022 and four times the number of cases in 2021.

Humanitarian partners also warn that over half a million people in the north-east may face emergency levels of food insecurity during the lean season from June to August. The lean season coincides with the rainy season, which brings an increase of acute watery diarrhoea, cholera, malaria, and other diseases, aggravating the situation for malnourished children.

This emergency funding will help jumpstart the response, but humanitarian partners need more to prevent widespread hunger and malnutrition in the north-east. The $1.3 billion humanitarian response plan for Nigeria is only 26 percent funded.

Sudan

Yesterday, donors announced more than US$1.5 billion in support of the humanitarian response in Sudan, and in the region, during a high-level pledging event co-hosted by the UN, together with the Governments of Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the European Union.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, thanked donors for their generosity.

Inside Sudan, the humanitarian community continue to deliver – as of today, OCHA has facilitated the movement of at least 388 trucks carrying life-saving assistance to various parts of the country.

The World Food Programme has reached more than 1 million people with emergency food assistance in the six weeks since it resumed operations in Sudan. This includes reaching more than 375,000 people in North, South, East and Central Darfur.

People continue to seek refuge from the fighting in Sudan in neighbouring countries. The UN Refugee Agency says more than 500,000 people have now fled across Sudan’s borders to escape the violence.